Bible Reading & Study
Blog posts in the “Bible Reading and Study” category tend to be practical: most concern HOW and WHY to read and study the Bible, but they also offer Bible readings plans and consider things like how to read a particular book or genre of Scripture. (For more specifics, see the Resources tab of this site.) These posts take to heart the words of St. Gregory the Great: “Study [Scripture], I beg you, and meditate daily on the words of your Creator. Learn the heart of God in the words of God.” Take a look through the posts pictured below, or start with one of these:
- God’s Word is Forever! 12 Reasons that Matters
- Build a Bible Reading Habit: Three “Ps” to Get You Started
- Choose from 3 Bible Reading Plans for Lent
- The ABCs of Reading St. Paul
"Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the Lord." (Esther C:12*) Have you ever felt like that? "Seized with mortal anguish"? I've never faced genocide the way Queen Esther did, but I have felt the "mortal anguish" of despair when we faced deep financial trouble ... when our baby's life hung by a thread ... when our son ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
On Ash Wednesday we entered the desert of Lent. On Sunday, the Church tells us why. The mass readings lay out the problem and the start of God's plan and they set us on the right road for this 40-day journey to Easter. Will you come into the Word with me this Lent? Every Sunday during Lent I will reflect briefly on the ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
Chrissie shut her Bible with frustration. “I get nothing out of this! How can you read it so much?!” I had told her that the Bible was like a love letter to her from God; that if she read it, she’d hear him speaking to her heart and life. Five days and who knows how many chapters later, Chrissie had ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
What are your plans for the summer? My calendar's already filled with a family vacation and weekend trips and picnics. But work is lighter, and so are the days—leaving time for walks and books and doing nothing, if I want. Just seeing "Memorial Day" coming up next week makes my pulse slow down. I can't wait for summer. I have ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
Have you heard of visio divina? I hadn’t, until I was asked to review Transformed by God’s Word, a wonderful new book by Stephen Binz. Immediately, I was intrigued by the subtitle: Discovering the Power of Lectio and Visio Divina. Lectio divina, I know well. But visio? Visio divina—“sacred seeing”— is an Eastern Orthodox tradition of contemplating sacred images, allowing ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
When our kids were young, we counted off the days to Christmas by hanging symbols on a "Jesse Tree: a sun for creation; a tree and Adam and Eve; a serpent; Noah’s ark … and so on. And with them, there were 23 days of readings from the Bible that took us to up to birth of Jesus, the One they ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
(6th and final post in a series for National Bible Week. Reflection on Luke 15:11-32) “Aren’t you going home for the holidays?” someone asked Bob as he signed up for December overtime. “Are you kidding?” he replied with a sharp laugh. “They wouldn’t have me if I went.” Few families are immune from scenes like this. A young man, eager ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
(5th in a series for National Bible Week. Reflection on Acts 12:4-19) I’ll never forget 9/11. I drove to New Jersey to see my aunt, cheerfully oblivious to what was going on in New York. When I arrived, I found her whole family gathered at her house, glued to the TV. Together we watched the second plane crash into the ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
(4th in a series for National Bible Week. Reflection on Luke 1:26-38) “Now what?” They knew layoffs were coming, but somehow Jim and Tina didn’t expect it to happen to them. Thirty years of loyal service dismissed in a five-minute meeting! Tina made some money tutoring but she hadn’t taught for years and jobs were scarce. Now to lose Jim’s ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
